JOHN HENRY LOWE
John
Henry Lowe, one of the highly honored and respected citizens
of Lucas county, has made his home in Union township for the
past fifty-six years and has witnessed the wonderful
transformation that has here occurred as pioneer conditions
have given way before the onward march of civilization. General
agricultural pursuits have claimed his attention throughout
his entire business career, and he is the owner of a valuable
farm of one hundred and twenty acres on sections 31 and 32. His birth occurred
in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of
December, 1835, his parents being Jonathan and Mary (Downard)
Lowe, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state, the
latter born in Fayette county.
Our subject’s grandfather, Isaac Lowe, was a soldier in
the War of 1812 and acquitted himself with credit. Jonathan Lowe
passed away in Madison county, Iowa, at the advanced age of
eighty-nine years, while his wife died in that county when
sixty-six years old. Their
children were eleven in number, as follows: John H., of this
review; William, who resides on the old home farm in Madison
county, this state; Martha, who lives with her brother on the
old homestead in Madison county; Mrs. Elziria Williams, whose
demise occurred in 1912; Oliver Perry, living in Osceola,
Iowa; Mrs. Victoria Hyatt, who makes her home in El Paso
county, Colorado; and five who died in early life. All were born in
Pennsylvania.
John
Henry Lowe enjoyed but limited educational advantages in his
youth but has continually augmented his knowledge by reading,
experience and observation and is a well informed man. When a youth of
eighteen he made his way to Iowa, journeying by boat down the
Ohio and up the Mississippi river to Keokuk and then traveling
overland to Van Buren county, which he reached on the 9th
of May, 1854. Thence
he removed to Madison county but after a short time went
south, spending the winter season in that section of the
country. The
following spring, in 1857, he came to Union township, Lucas
county, Iowa, and has here resided continuously since. Many evidences of
pioneer life were still to be found, wild game and wild
animals abounding, while numerous wandering tribes of Indians
sojourned in the district.
There were only six houses between Chariton and the
abode of Mr. Lowe, who experienced all the hardships and
privations of life in the frontier region. He first bought
eighty acres of university land and subsequently extended the
boundaries of his farm by an additional purchase of forty
acres, his holdings now embracing one hundred and twenty acres
of choice prairie land in the most productive section of Lucas
county. All the
improvements thereon stand as monuments to his thrift,
enterprise and industry, and the neat appearance of the place
bespeaks the care and progressive spirit of its owner. In former years Mr.
Lowe specialized in the raising of full-blooded Hereford
cattle and at present has a good grade of live stock. There was a time
when he sold eggs at Chariton for three cents a dozen, while
hogs brought only a dollar and a quarter per hundredweight at
Smyrna. Deciding
to purchase a scoop shovel, Mr. Lowe and a neighbor husked a
load of corn and took it to Chariton, selling the same to a
dealer for ten cents per bushel and thus obtaining sufficient
cash to pay for the shovel, which cost two dollars and
seventy-five cents. As
the years have passed and the district has become more thickly
settled, conditions have improved for the agriculturist in
many ways. Mr.
Lowe has won a gratifying measure of success in his operations
as a farmer and stock-raiser and has long been numbered among
the prosperous and representative citizens of this county.
On
the 25th of October, 1859, Mr. Lowe was united in
marriage to Miss Martha R. Brown, who was born in Fayette
county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of April, 1840,
her parents being Richard and Sarah Brown, likewise natives of
the Keystone state. It
was in the year 1840 that they came to Iowa, settling near
Eddyville. Becoming
discouraged with the poor prospects, however, they began the
overland journey back to Pennsylvania but met a party from the
east who contemplated settling in Iowa and who persuaded them
to remain here at least another year. They purchased a
tract of land in Lee county and thereon spent the remainder of
their lives. Mrs.
Brown died in 1854, during a scourge of the cholera. Their family
numbered the following children, namely: Josiah, Charles,
Rufus, LeRoy, Mrs. Frances Sprott, Mrs. Martha Lowe and Orpha,
all of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and all of whom are
deceased. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were born seven children, as follows: Alpheus, who is
deceased; Louisa, who died at the age of two years; Jonathan
L., who is a resident of Union township; William, also of that
township; Francis O., who lives with his father; Dell E.,
likewise on the home farm; and Charles E., who is deceased. The wife and mother
was called to her final rest on the 1st of April,
1896, passing away in Union township, where her demise was
deeply and sincerely mourned.
In politics Mr. Lowe is a democrat and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to positions of public trust. He has ably served in the capacity of township trustee, was a member of the school board for fifteen years and has acted as road supervisor for sixteen years, ever discharging his official duties in a most prompt and capable manner. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Lodge No. 329 at Derby. He is now in the seventy-eighth year of his age and enjoys the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on life’s journey and whose career has been at all times upright and honorable.